Project 1: the girls/guest bathroom

Before...floral hunter green wallpaper and border...nice.


After...









Much, much better. The cabinets still need some refinishing or maybe painting a French country style in off white but for now it is done! Yea to that!
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He is home!

We picked up Dust at the airport last night in Lexington at 11pm and we are so glad he is home!




Here are a few pictures Dustin took while there

 

Dust with Luca. This one makes my heart so happy! He said she was so very shy at first but finally realized who he was and began to talk to him. She was the most outgoing of our four kids that we sponsor. Naidine was very shy, very reserved and not sure about him. Here is a picture of Naidine and Luca together. You can tell Naidine is not thrilled.




Darbens was checking him out over the shoulder of his Nanny.

And no picture of Wadley. Wadley is four and a bit of a clown. He went and visited him in his family home in the orphanage but it was bath time and he had just gotten out and was running around naked so he decided it wasn't a great time to take a pic of the silly boy. Claire and Abby had colored them pictures. It was just a plain paper that the girls drew on that had a picture with Claire and Abby on it. Dustin found all of the kids we sponsored to give it to them. It made quite a scene. The kids at the orphanage thought it was a present since it was in an envelope and some were upset not to get one. Naidine and Luca were unsure of what it was at first since it was just a piece of paper with scribbles on it but they liked the pictures of Abby and Claire on their drawings. Haiti. Three years ago today was when the earthquake hit there. Huge destruction. Many lives lost. Many families broken. Many children left without parents. Many parents left with nothing to support or provide for their children. Dustin went with a medical relief team three weeks after the earthquake to help with medical care. It was a very scary time seeing such poverty, destruction, lawlessness, and brokenness. Going back this week was not much different. He said there were fewer tent cities but not much has improved. My heart was so thrilled to see these children we support. Our children are so excited about thier new brothers and sisters in Haiti. They want to see them. Dust came home and one of the first things he said was we really need to pray. Our kids will not be able to go with us anytime soon...maybe one day but right now Haiti is not safe. My heart just fell. I know that the Lord has ordained our steps to help this ministry but my heart is so sad not to be able to share that with my children immediately. It may be years before we are able to take our children and be able to help them see and understand the desperation, filth, lawlessness, hopelessness that is in Haiti right now. Dustin had a good fruitful week setting up care and procedures for the medical care at the orphanages. They are looking at setting up four medical teams a year to go to Haiti help regulate consistent care for the 150 kids at Grand Guave and Jacmel. Alot was accomplished in four days. Please continue to pray with us God's will for this ministry and how He wants to use us. Pray that we will be faithful to what He had called us to do even if that looks more difficult than we first anticipated. A song on my heart today is one of my missionary friend's, Vanessa Jones, favorites that she shared with me. It is God of Justice by Tim Hughes. The lyrics are below. The verse that really speaks to my heart is "keeping from us just singing, move us into action...We must go!" May we as believers not be satisfied about singing about God's grace, singing about surrender, singing about serving him whole heartedly...may the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings be more to us. May we seek to respond, may He move us into action. We must go. Live to feed the hungry. Stand beside the broken. We must go. A christian book that has changed us and deepened our walk with Christ is Kyle Idleman's "Not a Fan." Boy, talk about boldness for Christ. May we in Christ not be satisfied with being His fans but long and hunger to submit our lives to being His followers. If you haven't read it I challenge you to pick it up. You won't regret it. The Lord is doing alot in our lives right now and we are so thankful Dust is home safe!! Praise the Lord!

(God of Justice song on YouTube. Click on the link below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3NelRb1LY4

God of Justice Lyrics:
God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served
Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go
To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God
You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give
Fill us up and send us out!
Christian lyrics - GOD OF JUSTICE LYRICS - TIM HUGHES

Project two: Bible Quilt

Picture of the bible quilt decor frame collage I made for the guest room to explain the quilt blocks that Grandmommie made. Love it and love her!!


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Abigail

I was just looking through some pictures of Abigail. This was when we moved to Cushing...








Look how little she was. Here she is in her new room in Morehead.




My, what a big girl she is getting to be. Love that Abby Roo!
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Playing in the rain

These girls were so excited about playing in the rain the other day! They were running and squealing and having so much fun.


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This week...

This week has been good and busy. I am thankful it has helped to make the week go by faster without Dustin home. I am realizing I am a much better Mom when he is home. I am not sure how single Moms do it, seriously. I am so thankful to be able to share conversation and life with my husband. Feeding, bathing, reading to, homework, awana, scripture memorization, getting all four in bed every night has been a chore. I have also been trying to battle my first project: the girls bathroom. I am sure that may have some to do with it. At night after they are in bed I have been working on it. Wallpaper. I do not like wallpaper. I do not like taking wallpaper down. Such a small room and project has turned into such a tedious event this week. The wallpaper came down easily. The wallpaper border on the other hand was like it was glued on with four inch thick cement glue. It was awful and damaged the wall a bit and so then I got to repair the wall and paint and now I am not completely happy with it so I will probably end up texturing the whole bathroom....it was a small project...I sure was trying to just get rid of the floral hunter green ambiance but perhaps I should have just left it! (And as a side note I did snicker at the Lord a little...this is only the 5th bathroom I have redone and I have owned only 4 homes!) Carson's teacher called me on Monday to talk with me a little about Carson and thank me for my card. I had actually already heard from the school counselor, whom I met at church this Sunday (yes, it really is that small of a town...I didn't know her, never met her until Sunday and she told me she had spoken already to Ms.Mason about me...oh, small towns!), that Ms. Mason had told her about it and really appreciated it. It was nothing special just a card that I have sent with the boys every year and new teacher that they have had to just let them know that I appreciate them, that I am praying for them and that I am thankful to be partnering with them and supporting them as they educate my children. I know without a doubt that the Lord has placed each teacher in our lives specifically and intentionally. You would think that this would not be an abnormal thing. I would hope that all Moms that love the Lord would express to their children's teachers how they are appreciated and prayed for. When I spoke with Ms. Mason she was teary and shocked. She told me that in 22 years teaching she has never received a card like mine, she has never received a note from a Mom telling her that she is prayed for and appreciated. I told her that I was so sad to hear that. I know that at this time the Lord wants my family in the public schools system. I believe that we can be ambassadors for Christ there. I believe my children can grow in wisdom and stature with men and with God while we are training them at home also. Ms. Mason went on to tell me that this has been the hardest year for her. She has 34 students this year and half of them are just super hard to stay on task. It makes it very difficult. Every day for her is very difficult. She told me that when she got my letter it was the second day back from Christmas break and she was already feeling discouraged but she was so thankful to receive it just at the right time to encourage her. I do not write this in any way to toot my own horn. I share this because I think it is important that we understand and appreciate the people the Lord has put in our lives and that we intentionally pray for them and encourage them in their walk with the Lord. We all need encouragement. The Lord is always looking for ways to use us to encourage His children. Many sad things are happening in the schools in America today. Scary things that make me fear at times, but I cannot help but think surely there are more followers of Christ out there. Surely there are moms that love the Lord and are praying for their schools, teachers, bus drivers, ect. They need prayer. They need the Lord. My desire is to support them, encourage them and pray for them for sure. We have heard a couple of times via email from Dustin this week. He told me that Haiti still pretty much looks the same as after the earthquake with the exception of maybe not as many tent cities. He did say the facilities at the Hands and Feet orphanages were a lot more primitive than he expected. He was at Jacmel yesterday and today. The Jacmel orphanage is where our four children are that we support there. I asked him if they recognized him. For Christmas we sent them some things and a picture of our family. He told me funny enough...a few girls recognized him as the man in the picture with all the children. He told me our kids there, Luca, Naidine, Wadley and Darbens, were very shy at first but finally warmed up to him. I can't wait to hear more and he better have taken pictures. My heart just longs to see them and hug them. I am teary as I type now thinking about them. The Lord has done a mighty work in our hearts binding us to them in the past few months as we have prayed so faithfully for them. Our children long to see their brothers and sisters in Haiti...oh how I am praying for the Lord's will for that day to be soon. The other things I have been working on this week which I will have to post pics of later is a bible quilt wall décor frame collage. Dustin's grandmother gave us a bible quilt that she had made as we took off to come to Kentucky. It is beautiful and so special. Each block represents a part of the bible. Today I have been writing all of the meanings of the blocks (some different parables Jesus taught, communion, kingdom of God, ect.) and getting them where I can display them in our new guest room. I am going to use the quilt in there. We have never had an official guest room before so that is fun. I am so thrilled to get it all together. Today has been such a good day as I have gone through all of the many teachings of Jesus. This quilt block is probably my favorite. The Pharisee & Publican. Luke 18:9-14. Grandmommie wrote that those that would seek to serve God for their own glory are not pleasing to our Lord. We need a loving forgiving God. Our attempt at a beautiful act to impress others will be as nothing, but God's handiwork completed through our humble hands will glorify the Lord. Oh, may I seek to have humble hands. Abigail has been singing today "Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, let us not lift our souls to another...Oh God let us be a generation that seeks, that seeks your face, Oh God of Jacob." It has been so fitting to these words that Grandmommie has written. Now, Abigail didn't quite understand why it says God of Jacob....Why doesn't it just say God?... to which we had a well drawn out conversation about. I told her she could sing Oh God of Abigail if she wanted. Humble hands. Humble hearts desiring to hear and obey the Lord. Submitted hearts to letting Him use them in His handiwork. I really like that. I can't wait to hug my husband tomorrow and hear all the handiwork the Lord let him be a part of this week. I hope you have had a good, full week dwelling in the presence of Jesus. I am loving that word these days...dwell...to constantly abide. May we all draw nearer to Him as we constantly abide in Him. Much, much love to you.

A New Normal

One of our favorite Goodbye gifts...A candle from Mikayla & Foster because Kentucky Stinks.

The kids loved taking turns holding Rastus on the 14 hour drive to Kentucky from Oklahoma City. Below is a sweet little care package from our precious friends James and Georgia Beaver. We told them we would stop by on our way out of town after the movers had packed us up in Cushing and we pulled up about 5pm. Ms. Georgia had a surprise awaiting....homemade stew and she wouldn't take no for an answer :) She also these goodies for the kids and a self addressed and postage paid letter for me to write her. So sweet! We will miss the Beavers!

 

Claire finding things to play with the first day we were here. She is such a happy girl!

Claire loves the lazy susans!

After we took the boys to the first day of school at Tilden Hogge we buzzed into town and had breakfast at Rootabakers Bakey. They gave the girls free cookies for their first visit! Cookies for breakfast! Yum! Yum!

Below is the big orange truck that loaded us up...they arrived about 9am and left that night about 8pm...loaded to the brim. In fact they had to load some things in the Allied van and reconfigure to get it all in the truck. The next day I spent cleaning and preparing the home for the new buyers. We don't know who they are yet but we are confident we will soon. It was a bit of a sad day for me. Andrew came home early from school with an ear infection that day as we prepared to leave Cushing.

The owner from Root-A-Bakers Bakery heard we were new in town and gave us free bread and cookies! What a blessing!

Abigail's favorite thing about Kentucky so far...is the honey! We have a bee farm nearby and the honey is wonderful! The beekeeper told us we could come by in the spring and he would give us all a bee and honey making class! Too fun! We found out his son is in Carson's class at school.

The boys....are loving it here. Lots of exploring to do in the Daniel Boone National Forrest! The morning after we moved in it snowed about 4 inches. It was so beautiful! The boys are loving the hills and trees and the room to explore.

Thursday, the boys started school at Tilden Hogge Elementary. It is about 9 miles from our home. They are now wild mustangs. It is a nice school that is about the same size as their school in Cushing (188 students). The people here are so nice and friendly. Andrew was a little unsure of his teacher at first because she was sooo excited to see him and wouldn't stop hugging him but he eventually decided she was okay and chose to stay the rest of the day. Carson's teacher, Ms.Mason, is very nice. I look forward to getting to know them both more and building relationships with them. Carson was a little leery of making new friends but we have been praying specifically for this and was so excited to hear that all 17 other kids in his class want to be his friend. I am so proud of our boys and the way they have embraced all that the Lord has asked us to do in moving to a new home, town, school. I know that is hard. Change is hard. Making new friends is hard. A new normal is working its way out in our lives right now and I am so thankful for children that are flexible and willing to embrace a new adventure. The boys liked school so much on Thursday that they were may be too excited to catch the bus early Friday morning. The bad news is we are now the first bus stop picked up and the last dropped off. The bus picks them up at 6:45 am and drops them off at 4:15...that is a long time on a bus. We are still praying about what is best there, maybe even if I take them in the morning and then they can ride home in the afternoons it would be better that over two hours on a bus a day....but they like the bus so we will see. In preparing them for bed thursday night we told them more than once that they would have to get up early to catch the bus so they better hurry to bed. We got them showered up, pajamas and in bed...30 minutes later...after we thought they were asleep we heard someone coming up the stairs...It was Andrew...fully clothed...socks, shoes, jacket...Dustin asked them what he was doing and why he was fully dressed and he told us that he and Carson had decided to just sleep in their clothes, jackets and shoes so they wouldn't have to do that in the morning. They would be ready for the bus....funny, funny boys! Dustin took Drew downstairs and talked them both into changing back into the pajamas. Carson really didn't want to asking, "why? why can't we just sleep in our clothes?" Dustin said he told them, "Because then your clothes will be wrinkled and you will look like a bum and I don't raise bums." to which Carson replied, "Shoes don't wrinkle...." A good laugh....but no, we don't sleep in our clothes. They were thinking on that one...really thinking it through. Below is a picture of Claire and her favorite spot at the new house...a swing outside. In two pictures below is also a picture of Abigail on move in day. She got so tired that she crawled under a desk in the boys room and took a nap. It was funny to find her just snoozing with her bottom in the air. Sorry for the disarray of pictures and some of them without captions. I am not sure how to do that with this program I used to upload the pictures. We are pretty much moved in and ready to find our pattern..our new normal. Next week will be a little different because Dustin will be going to Haiti tomorrow through Friday. He will be traveling with the Hands and Feet project to help establish medical care for the 2 orphanages they currently have that serves 150 children. They will also be traveling to northern Haiti to visit and pray about an opportunity to take over two additional orphanages there that serve about 200 children. Please pray for safety for the group going. Pray for unity amoung them. Pray they the Lord would boldly reveal to them His will for the expansion of the Hands and Feet Project and if He wills for them to take on the two additional orphanages in Northern Haiti. Pray for my husband emotionally. He went and served in a medical relief trip to Haiti a couple of weeks after the earthquake and on the way home he told the Lord he would be okay if he never went back to Haiti. The Lord had other plans. Pray the Lord will give Him a clear vision for what He wants to accomplish with his skills and knowledge of medicine and  ministry and how He desires for Dustin to help the Hands and Feet Project. A part of me is really sad not be going alongside of my husband this week. A part of me is so sad not to get to hug and love on our four precious kids that we sponsor there but I do know that this trip is not when I am to join him. I know that the Lord wants me here at home with our children this week as we blaze a new trail in obedience to Him and establish a new normal in Morehead, Ky. Much love to you! I would like to leave you with a challenge today. I want to challenge you to be a friend today. Look for those the Lord wants you to connect with. I am so thankful for my friend Amy, I still remember enrollment day at school in Cushing for Andrew and she was so friendly and introduced herself. I didn't know her...I had never seen her...I was new to town but she was looking that day and the Lord connected me with her. I am so thankful. I am looking now to connect with Moms, fellow believers, here in my new town again and I am challenged this week to always be looking for someone who needs a friend. Maybe it is someone new to your town, church, library story time group, ect....be looking, be friendly. We can not share Christ with people if we won't share life with people. Chose to be a friend because the Lord is such a very good friend to us! As I am the new person again in a new town I am challenged by this and just wanted to encourage you to be looking. You are such a blessing to me. Thank you for reading, praying and partnering with us on this journey. He alone is worthy!